Fait Accompli
by cheeky-chaos
Summary: When Morgan le Fay contacts Atlantis in search of Daniel Jackson, Atlantis and SG-1 discover that an old enemy has returned - and this time Adria is not alone. With the help of Michael and his hybrids, she plans to destroy Atlantis. Can she be stopped?
1. Prologue

Author's Note: This is a crossover between Stargate Atlantis and SG-1, but since most of the action happens in Atlantis, I thought it was better off here!

Spoilers: Ark of Truth and up to Missing in Season 4 of Atlantis

**Fait Accompli**

By cheeky-chaos

Prologue

The woman once known as Morgan le Fay slowly became aware of the sound of a beating heart… a sound she had not heard in a very long time; particularly since this heart beat within her own chest. Groaning as she felt a sudden shooting pain at her temple, Morgan squeezed her eyes shut tighter against the pain and barely stopped the cry that escaped her lips. After more centuries than she remembered as one of the Ascended, she was finding the mortal realm more disconcerting and painful than she ever could have imagined.

But it had been the only way.

More soul-weary than she ever remembered being, Morgan struggled to sort out the strange sounds and smells that were assaulting her senses. The mortal world seemed far more chaotic than she could comprehend and it would take a while before she could move from where her body was curled in the dirt.

After what seemed like an eternal struggle, Morgan opened her eyes and blinked rapidly as they were battered by the golden light of sunset. Thankful that she'd had enough control of her powers to retain adequate clothing after she had returned to this plane of existence, Morgan gazed down at the white robes she was wearing, now smeared with the dirt she was lying in.

With a great sense of exhaustion, she carefully sat up, marvelling at the way it felt to have a body once more. Even with the knowledge and powers of ascension, it had been something that she had missed greatly; the simple feel of the cloth of her robes whispering against her skin and the slide of her hair against her cheek from where it tumbled in knots around her shoulders… for a brief minute she revelled in the feeling of being human again.

Once on her feet, Morgan looked around the planet she found herself on and tried to gain her bearings. Spotting a familiar landmark, she stepped forward, taking it slowly until her legs stopped shaking. The slight breeze brushed across her cheek and brought with it the sent of tree sap and wildflowers. Birds sounded in the trees and the remaining sunlight warmed Morgan's skin. It was a tranquil scene that belied the true purpose of this planet and more importantly the secret lab hidden here.

The lab took more time than Morgan had hoped to find. Covered in creepers and leaves, it looked like little more than a ruin crumbling away between the trees, but she knew that it had been purposefully designed to look that way. Anyone who knew the language of the ones known as Ancients would see that the markings meant nothing – but few would have a reason to journey to this world and even fewer would have the ability to read it.

The people who had built this place had ascended long ago, but the information it contained would still be crucial to her plans. To defeat an enemy, one must know of their past; and in the case of the Ori, their secrets. They were not quite so defeated as the humans believed.

It did not take long for Morgan to gain access to the lab and gather the relevant control crystal, as she had retained much of her heightened senses. It had been the only way to retain all the abilities and memories she needed to warn the humans of what was coming.

The only way to stop Adria.

Slipping back out into the dying sunlight, Morgan made her way back to the area where she had awoken not long ago and felt a surge of relief when she saw the other woman lying not all that far away from where she had been. Also dressed in white robes, the blonde woman was only just now beginning to awaken.

Carefully, Morgan moved to crouch beside the woman that had helped her convince the other Ancients that the Ori were a threat and who had sacrificed so much of her own power to help Morgan fight Adria.

Groaning, the blonde opened her blue-green eyes only to shut them tightly again. "Oh, that _hurts_," she hissed.

"Aurora," Morgan said gratefully, relieved that her friend had survived what they had attempted. "It will hurt for a while," she cautioned gently. "It will take time for your consciousness to remember what it is like to have a form."

"You know what?" Aurora asked her as Morgan helped her to her feet. "Descending really sucks."

Morgan smiled a little, Aurora's way of talking so different to her own despite everything. Then she sobered. "I found the crystal we need," she said.

Aurora took in a deep breath, before letting it out slowly. Nodding to herself, she turned her gaze to Morgan. "I guess it's time then," she replied. "Atlantis, here we come."

###


	2. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I'm not sure if everyone is in character in this chapter, so I'd appreciate anyone's comments on that. Thanks.

Cheeky.

**Fait Accompli**

By cheeky-chaos

Chapter 1

"Yo, Jackson," Cameron Mitchell called out as he walked into Daniel's lab.

Looking up from where he had been blissfully translating some tablets from P3X-492 without Vala's constant irritations, Daniel scowled. "Don't you have someone else to annoy?" he asked his team mate.

Cam just smiled and shrugged. "Nice to see you too," he said mildly.

With a sigh, Daniel put down his notebook and gave the other man a penetrating glance. "Was there something you wanted?" he asked.

"You did know it was lunchtime, right?" Cam asked. "And you do remember agreeing to meeting me, Teal'c and Vala for lunch?"

With a muffled curse, Daniel looked down at his watch and discovered it really was lunchtime – and he had agreed to meet his team mates for lunch. Sighing again, he rearranged the tablets and stood up. Cam rolled his eyes. "You owe me ten bucks, by the way," he said as the pair left Daniel's lab and headed for the commissary. "I bet Vala that you would actually remember."

"You should know better than to bet against Vala at anything," Daniel replied, before realising that he'd pretty much insinuated that he hadn't been likely to remember lunch.

Cam turned his head to arch an eyebrow in Daniel's direction. "That's the last time I stick up for you, Jackson," he muttered.

Daniel sighed and shook his head, ignoring Cam's muttered comment. "Heard from Sam lately?" he asked instead.

Samantha Carter, now a full-bird Colonel, had recently left the SGC for command at Atlantis after the disappearance of Dr. Elizabeth Weir. Cam had been sad to see her go, but if anyone deserved the promotion, it had been the woman who had come to be one of his closest friends. However, the whole team had missed her for the last six months.

"No since we last did," Cam replied. "I'm sure she'll send a message through the 'gate soon. Atlantis is due for a monthly update in a few days."

"Think I could finally persuade General Landry to let me visit Atlantis again?" Daniel asked suddenly.

Hiding a smile, Cam shook his head, but before he could say anything, the pair walked into the commissary and Cam caught sight of the remaining members of SG-1. In typical Vala-like fashion, Vala was sitting in Teal'c's lap, stealing food from his plate and speaking animatedly while the big Jaffa regarded her in his usual stoic manner.

Daniel snorted at the sight. "She's probably trying to get him to help steal the British crown jewels again," he said.

"I thought she'd given that up?" Cam asked in surprise, nudging the direction of the lunch line.

"No, not really," Daniel answered, his tone sarcastic.

Cam rolled his eyes. "You've locked your credit cards away again, haven't you?"

Having discovered the one safe that Vala was unwilling or unable to open – the one in General Landry's office – Daniel had begun locking his credit cards away on a regular basis. "Do you have any idea how much that woman spends on shoes?" Daniel asked darkly.

Cam his another smile as he grabbed his lunch and headed over to Teal'c and Vala's table, Daniel in tow. "It's the downside to having a shopaholic girlfriend," he said mildly.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Daniel hissed, his blue eyes snapping with irritation.

"Whatever, Jackson," Cam replied, knowing it was only a matter of time before Daniel gave into Vala's advances – or Teal'c locked them in a storage closet.

Teal'c nodded in greeting as they wandered over, just as Vala was finishing whatever she'd been saying. "...come on, Muscles. It'll be fun!"

"I do not believe it is a wise course of action," Teal'c intoned in reply.

"You're not still trying to steal the English crown jewels, are you?" Cam asked as he slid into a seat opposite the pair.

Vala turned and gave Cam an appraising look, mischief dancing in her eyes. "I have leant that your interesting planet has something known as 'jelly wrestling'. I believe I'd be quite good at it. Do you think I could get Daniel to coach me?"

Cam absently patted the archaeologist on the back as he began to choke on his sandwich, before giving Vala a reproachful stare, knowing that the whole jelly wrestling idea had just been a way to get a rise out of Daniel. Then he sighed as Daniel fixed Vala with an angry glare.

Knowing that Vala, and therefore the rest of the table, was about to get a lecture on responsible behaviour, Cam decided to interrupt. "Maybe that isn't such a good idea," he said. "What with going offworld all the time on missions and everything."

"What missions?" Vala asked with a roll of her eyes. "The Ori are gone, the Baal clones have practically all been caught and Daniel hasn't annoyed anyone new yet, so there's no maniacal aliens currently out to destroy the galaxy."

"Hey!" Daniel objected to the comment, but was prevented from replying as an airman approached their table.

"General Landry wanted to see you in the gateroom, Dr. Jackson," the airman said politely, the quiet awe of someone newly assigned to the SGC.

With eyebrows raised in curiosity, Daniel shared a glance with the rest of SG-1, before getting up. Cam and the others stood and began to follow. While General Landry had only asked for Daniel, there was an unwritten law at the SGC – when one SG-1 team member was involved, so were the others. It was not only true for missions or basketball games, either.

"You know," Vala said as they headed out of the commissary. "I could have been wrong. Maybe Daniel has annoyed someone else and they're about to declare war on him for insulting their mother or something."

Cam shot her a glare, but she just looked innocently back. "I don't annoy everyone I meet, you know," Daniel muttered.

"Not everyone," Vala agreed. "But there is a large percentage of the galaxy that does find you a bit irritating."

"Whereas, I suppose they find you perfectly charming," Daniel shot back.

"Of course," Vala replied with a smile.

Suppressing the urge to roll his eyes at the bickering of his team mates, Cam followed them up the stairs to the gateroom and was greeted by the familiar shimmering blue of an active 'gate. General Landry, who had been standing in front of a monitor, gave a small smile as they all entered, Daniel and Vala still bickering.

"And here they are now," he said, stepping back to reveal the smiling face of Colonel Samantha Carter on the screen.

"Sam!" Daniel greeted delightedly.

"Hey, Daniel," the blonde replied.

Sam looked wearier than Cam remembered and her now long blonde hair was tied behind her in a plait. It seemed a little strange after the short hair she'd worn for so long, but it was a good strange. "Hey, Colonel," he greeted. "How goes it on Atlantis?"

Smiling tiredly, Sam nodded in Cam's direction. "Hey, Cam. Atlantis is good; busy, but good. I miss you guys, though."

"We, too, miss your presence here," Teal'c told her.

Vala nodded. "Daniel's just no fun to go shopping with," she added. "Ooh! Maybe we should come and visit."

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about," Sam began.

"You need us on Atlantis?" Daniel asked, his eyes practically begging Sam to say yes.

Sam smiled at her friend's eagerness. "Well, Daniel, I've got someone who's asking to see you," she replied.

"Who is it?" Cam asked.

"And how did Daniel manage to annoy someone all the way over in the Pegasus galaxy?" Vala added.

As Daniel glared, a hint of a smile crossed Sam's face, as if she were hiding a smile at Vala's comment. Then she turned serious. "She says her name's Morgan le Fay," she said. "And she has something very important to tell us."

###

Stepping through the 'gate, Daniel shook off the lingering cold as he gazed around at Atlantis' gateroom. It was still as bright and open as he remembered, the colourful tones strange to his eyes after years at being used to the military green and grey of the SGC. A grinning Sam was waiting for him and he wasted no time in walking over and giving the woman he considered a sister a hug.

"Hey, Sam," he grinned as they stepped apart again. "It's good to see you again."

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed as he also stepped up to greet his friend by grabbing both her hands – the closest the large Jaffa came to a hug.

She gave a small laugh that was then cut off as Vala ran at her and wrapped her in an enthusiastic hug. "Samantha!"

Then Vala seemed to spot the two people standing beside Sam – John Sheppard and Rodney Mckay. Her eyes moved approvingly over Sheppard, especially since she hadn't spent much time with the man since SG-1's last visit to Atlantis over a year before. "Hello there, handsome," she purred.

"Vala," Daniel sighed.

Vala pouted, before flouncing back over to Daniel. "You know, Daniel," she said. "If you're not going to let me have any fun, you should have just left me back on Earth with your credit cards."

"I wish," Cam heard Daniel muttered under his breath.

Stepping forward, Cam shared an amused glance with Sam. "Hey, Sam," he greeted. "Colonel Sheppard."

"Shouldn't you call her ma'am now or something?" Rodney asked then, looking more than a little irritated.

"Rodney," Sheppard signed in almost exactly the same tone as Daniel had used with Vala.

Cam felt his eyebrows rise and looked a little awkwardly at Sam. She shook her head slightly, before turning to the astrophysicist. "After everything we did on SG-1, I think we can stand a little informality," she said.

"Right," Cam said, getting down to business. "So what have we got?"

"The woman claiming to be Morgan le Fay made contact with one of the planets we trade with about two days ago," Sam began to explain as everyone began wandering up the stairs in the direction of her office. "Lorne's team was visiting at the time and passed on the message."

"To talk to me," Daniel said, not really need to frame it as a question. "So where is she now?"

"She's still on M5X-492," Sheppard said. "We didn't want to bring her to Atlantis unless she was a Replicator trick."

"Ah," Cam said. "How's that coming?"

Rodney glared. "Oh, just great," he snapped. "They're still fighting the Wraith, but they still find the time to try to blow us up every so often."

"Yeah, I've heard they do that," Daniel said.

"Just ignore him," Sheppard said. "He likes to think he's funny."

"At least I don't think I'm Captain Kirk of the Starship Enterprise," Rodney muttered.

Cam tried to hide a smile as he shared an amused look with Sam. "So I'm guessing the first step would be to go and meet her?" he asked.

"That would be the general plan, yeah," Rodney replied, somewhat caustically.

"Rodney," Sam sighed.

Then she turned Cam, Daniel, Vala and Teal'c. Just seeing them in her office after everything was enough to make her smile softly. "We move out in an hour," she said.

"We?" Daniel echoed, picking up on her wording.

Sam grinned at him. "I may be commander of Atlantis," she said, "but I still get to have a little fun. Besides, you really think I'm going to let you guys go through the 'gate without me?"

Cam laughed. "Oh, yeah!" he cried. "The band is back together!"

###


	3. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Thanks heaps to everyone who reviewed. I appreciate you all taking the time.

Cheeky.

**Fait Accompli**

By cheeky-chaos

Chapter 2

The sun was shining and the air pleasantly warm as Daniel stepped out onto M5X-492. He heard the 'gate shut down behind him as the last of their group exited the wormhole. Along with Sam, Rodney, Sheppard and SG-1, Sheppard's two other team mates, Teyla and Ronon were also with them. It made for a large presence that Daniel wasn't quite sure was warranted.

But then, when an ascended Ancient called for him personally, it tended to make everyone a little nervous. Daniel had tried not to take that personally, but Sam had teased him about his own knack of ascending at random moments. He'd grumbled a bit at that.

"So, where is this village?" Cam asked, walking up to where Sam was standing.

"About a click that way," Sheppard answered.

"Tell me again why we couldn't take a jumper?" Rodney's voice complained from the other side of Sheppard.

Sheppard barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the scientist. "Because we're only going to meet this Morgan le Fay," he replied. "Besides, you didn't have to come."

"And miss out on meeting a genuine ascended Ancient?" Rodney said. "I mean, if she is who she claims to be. Do you have any idea how much she could tell us about the systems on Atlantis..."

"I hardly think she's here for a technical discussion of Atlantis' systems, Rodney," Sheppard said dryly as he set off in the direction of the village.

"Yes, well... I'm sure she'll have time to answer a few of my questions..."

Ronon grunted. "If she isn't a replicator trap," he said.

As Rodney launched into a rambling explanation of the odds relating to the Replicators trying anything this complicated, Sheppard let out a soft sigh. Cam, who was walking beside him, hid a smile at the sound. It was something he could understand. "He always like this?" Cam asked the other pilot.

"Rodney?" Sheppard asked, turning to look at Cam. "No, today's actually a good day. If he hasn't had enough coffee, by now he's usually blaming Zelenka for everything that's ever gone wrong in his life."

Cam chuckled softly. "And I thought I had it bad stopping Vala from stealing everything in the galaxy," he replied.

Sheppard smiled at that. "How's that going?"

Cam shrugged. "She's focusing mostly on Jackson's credit cards lately, so it hasn't been too bad."

Before the two men could say anything else, a loud and irritated shout rang out. "Vala!"

Amused, both Sheppard and Cam turned back to see an annoyed Daniel glaring at Vala, who had an innocent expression on her face. Out the corner of his eye, Cam caught the hint of a smile Sam was trying to hide. "Jackson?" he called out. "Something the matter?"

"No," Daniel called back, grabbing Vala by the arm, he forcibly made her turn around and made her walk in front of him, still glaring darkly at her the whole time.

Sheppard narrowed his eyes at the speculative grin on Ronon's face. "I think we should keep Vala and Ronon apart for a little while," he mentioned to Cam.

Catching what Sheppard had already spotted, Cam winced a little. "I think you might have a good idea, there," he replied.

###

About twenty minutes later, the group crested the final hill and came into sight of the village that lay out before them. The Vanorians were a peaceful people, similar in many ways to the Athosians and were always happy to trade grain and other foods with Atlantis in exchange for medicines. One of the Atlantis anthropologists had even spent time in the village, studying their culture.

At their approach, Hectan, one of the village elders, stepped away from the small group of villagers he'd been talking to. "My friends," he called out when he caught sight of Sheppard and his team. "I thought you had perhaps not gotten our message."

"We did indeed receive your message," Teyla said, stepping forward to greet the elder. "But it took us a number of days to inform Dr. Jackson of it."

Hectan nodded. "Then you have come to see her," he said.

Daniel stepped forward, not even seeing Cam's exchanged look with Sam. "You mean a woman who calls herself Morgan le Fay?" he asked.

Hectan looked at him, eyebrows raised in curiosity, but the welcoming smile still remained on his face. "You must be Dr. Jackson," he said.

Daniel blinked in surprise. "How do you know that?" he said.

"The woman who calls herself Morgan le Fay described you to me," Hectan replied, an equal mixture of mischief and reproach in his expression. "Come, she has been expecting you."

They followed Hectan, who led them into one of the village huts. Daniel blinked a little as his eyes adjusted to the dimmer light inside after the bright sunlight outside, only to come face to face with the woman he did not actually believe would be here.

The real Morgan le Fay.

"Hello, Daniel," she said with a smile, rising to her feet a little slowly.

Daniel blinked, not sure of what to say. Vala, however, had no such problems. "What are you doing here?" she demanded. "Shouldn't you be busy duelling Adria to death or something?"

Morgan smiled a little at Vala, but there was a deep exhaustion in her eyes that Daniel hadn't expected either. Briefly, Morgan swayed on her feet and Daniel instinctively stepped forward to steady her, before helping her back into her chair. "I'm afraid there's a lot to tell you," she said. "All of you. And not much time."

"How about you start with what happened after you and Adria disappeared?" Cam suggested, a bad feeling beginning to curl in his gut.

His face, like those of the rest of SG-1, had turned inscrutable after they'd seen Morgan. All five of them were reliving what had happened – and what Adria had been capable of. "She'll do it after she drinks this," a new voice said from the doorway.

Everyone spun, most reaching for weapons and Ronon even when so far as to raise and aim his gun before he registered who it was. The blonde woman standing in the doorway was dressed much the same as Morgan was, in slightly stained white robes. She regarded everyone with a clear green-blue gaze, before she moved into the room. Holding out a cup to Morgan, she nodded slightly. "Drink. It'll help."

"Thank you, Aurora," Morgan said as the rest of the room felt into tense silence.

"Rory?"

The question seemed torn in surprise from Sam's throat as she gazed at a woman she hadn't seen in two years. Daniel and Teal'c were also looking at her with varying degrees of surprise – although Daniel appeared more shocked than the big Jaffa. Aurora, better known as Rory, sent Morgan a soft smile, before turning to face her old friends.

"Hey Daniel," she greeted. "Teal'c. Sam... or should I say Colonel now?"

"How..?" Daniel began, still looking shocked.

"You know her?" Cam asked, looking a little irritated at not knowing what was going on.

"Her name is Lt. Colonel Aurora James," Teal'c intoned gravely. "She was the commanding officer of SG-3 until her death, two years ago."

"She's dead?" Sheppard echoed.

Before Rory could answer, Rodney spoke up in slightly awed tones. "She ascended," he said.

With a slightly sardonic smile, Rory nodded. "I did die," she said. "And I did ascend. And when I realised what the Ori were up to, I helped Morgan do as much as she could to warn you. It wasn't easy..."

"And then you helped her fight Adria," Daniel guessed.

Rory nodded. "Yeah," she replied.

"You were once one of the ascended ancestors?" Teyla asked in a tone that held both reverence and disbelief.

With a start, Rory realised that many of the peoples in this galaxy prayed to those that were ascended. She'd always been aware of that, but she hadn't considered it when it had come time to descend. "I was in way," she answered. "I was never an Ancient, but I did ascend yes." Then she sighed. "Perhaps we'd better talk about the rest of it on Atlantis. We don't have much time."

"Why don't we have much time?" Sam asked.

Rory sighed and looked at Morgan. "Because I'm dying," Morgan said. "I tried to retain as many abilities and memories as possible and its slowly killing me. And if we do not access the lab before I then, Adria will have won."

"Adria?" Vala echoed, speaking for the first time. "Adria is still alive?"

Morgan nodded. "I'm sorry. Even with our combined power, Aurora and I could not fully contain her – not with the combined power of the Ori behind her. The best we could do is bind her powers and force her to descend."

"So you're saying Adria is running around the galaxy somewhere?" Cam asked, not happy about the turn of events.

"No," Rory answered. "We're saying that Adria is somewhere in the Pegasus galaxy and unless we find a way of defeating her in the next two weeks, she's going to regain all the powers of the Ori and be able to ascend again – and this time no one will stand against her."

###

Cam stared blankly at his coffee cup as his mind whirled. After Rory and Morgan's starting revelations, Sam had agreed that they should return to Atlantis and without even stopping to get checked out by Dr. Keller, something both Morgan and Rory had said they had no time for, everyone had withdrawn to the briefing room – which is where they still were, several hours later.

The amount of information the two women had revealed has left Cam's head spinning, and judging from Daniel's expression, Cam decided that he didn't even feel half of what the archaeologist did. It turned out that after a particularly nasty mission against one of the Goa'uld, Rory had been shot and killed while protecting both her team and the planet's locals. According to Oma Desala, that had been enough to qualify her for ascension.

Since then, she and Morgan le Fay had been helping Earth as best as they could, while walking the fine line of obeying the rules. When Adria had truly become a threat to the galaxy, the two women had managed to convince the others that Adria needed to be stopped and had spent the last six months locked in a fearsome battle.

A battle that had ended in Adria being forced to descend.

"So you're human?" Rodney finally snapped at Rory, breaking Cam out of his thoughts. "You didn't think to descend with any powers?"

Rory levelled a slightly irritated glance his way. "Morgan and I decided it was best that only one of us descended with a full set of memories," she replied.

"Why?" Rodney persisted. "If Adria still retains the same powers she had before she ascended, why didn't you get to keep them too?"

"Rodney," Sheppard warned tiredly.

"No, he has a point," Rory replied. "Adria kept the powers she had before ascension because it was too difficult to limit them as well. All we had the strength to do was bind the powers she gained after ascension."

"Because she was created by the Ori for a specific purpose," Daniel said, putting two and two together.

Rory nodded. "Yes. By creating her, the Ori essentially created an evolved human. To strip her of all her powers would be a task far more difficult than ascension itself."

"That doesn't explain why you didn't get to keep your powers," Vala pointed out a little angrily.

Morgan smiled, exhaustion clear on her face. After explaining her part of the story some time ago, she had retreated into silence, but now she took over. "Because one of us needed to survive," she answered simply. "To retain most of my powers and memories, I had pushed this body to the point where it is beginning to shut down."

Rory nodded sadly. "There is too much that needs to be done," she continued, before her lips twisted wryly. "Besides, I didn't lose all of my powers."

Holding out her hand, Rory gave Rodney an arch stare, before she gracefully levitated Cam's coffee mug to the other side of the table and back. "I kept enough to fight Adria," Rory said as she set the cup back in front of a startled Cam.

"So," Sam said, clearing her throat. "Just so I understand everything: for the next two weeks Adria is unable to ascend and we need to find her and stop her before that time is up?"

Rory nodded. "That's about it in a nutshell, yeah."

"Anyone got a plan?" Ronon grunted.

At that, Rory and Morgan shared a smile. "Of course," Rory said. "You didn't think we'd come all the way to Pegasus and descend without one, did you?"

###


	4. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Sorry about the delay in posting this chapter, but life kidnapped me for a little while and I had no chance to write. Thanks to all my readers and especially anyone who reviewed. Very much appreciated!

Cheeky.

**Fait Accompli**

By cheeky-chaos

Chapter 3

Rory grinned a little as the darkened lab immediately lit up at her entrance. She'd always admired Ancient technology, having a well-known hobby for pulling anything mechanical apart and trying to put it back together again, but she'd never really had a chance to play with it. Not like this, anyway.

"So why are we here, again?" Rodney complained, entering behind her and jolting her from her thoughts. "Oh, yeah, that's right... you won't tell us."

"I did tell you, Rodney," Rory replied, a little amused at the caustic scientist. "We're here so I can show you how to find Adria."

"And we're standing in the middle of the holographic room because... what? You want to listen to some more Ancient history?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Just watch and learn, Doc," she said.

Moving to the small podium at the edge of the room, she opened the side panel and began to put out crystals. "Hey, hey, hey!" Rodney snapped. "Don't do that! You might break something!"

Glaring at him over her shoulder, she scowled. "I know what I'm doing, Rodney," she replied. "I was ascended, remember?"

By now, everyone else had caught up to them after leaving Morgan le Fay in the capable hands of Doctor Keller. Rory was a little worried about the other woman – her strength was flagged a lot faster than they thought it would. Returning to her task while her doubts continued to plague her, Rory inserted the small crystal Morgan had retrieved from the hidden lab into one of the spaces. Then she proceeded to reorder the other crystals and prayed to anyone listening that this would actually work.

When a hologram flickered into life, Rory turned to smile triumphantly at Rodney. "See?" she said. "I told you I knew what I was doing."

"Congratulations," Rodney said sarcastically. "You've found the Pegasus galaxy."

Above them, covering the ceiling of the room was indeed a holographic display of the planets in the Pegasus galaxy, much like the display Daniel used when searching for the Holy Grail. Rolling her eyes again and wondering if doing that too often would give her a headache, Rory pointed to the blinking red dot in the centre of the rotating planets. "No, I found Adria's lab," she said. "I thought you were supposed to be some kind of genius?"

Attempting to halt any bickering that would spring up between the two, Sam decided to step in at this point. "I thought you said you could find Adria?" she asked.

Rory sighed. "Well, I'm pretty sure that's where she is," she said.

"Pretty sure?" Rodney said scathingly. "You're betting the safety of two galaxies on 'pretty sure'?"

"Look, it's her favourite place in two galaxies right now. If she's not there already, she will be soon." Rory glared at Rodney. "And I'm sorry, Rodney, but it's not like I could microchip her or something!"

"How can you be so sure that's where she is?" Sheppard asked.

"Because without her powers of ascension, Adria is vulnerable. She no longer has her armies to shelter her," Rory answered. "And that lab contains the one thing she needs."

"A personal shield," Sam said.

Rory grinned. "Exactly!"

"How do you know that?" Rodney asked. "And, more concerning to me, is how do you know where Adria's secret lab is?"

"It's simple," Rory explained. "Some Ori devices, such as a personal shield, require a power source that gives off a specific type of radiation, which means they can be tracked. And with Adria travelling through the 'gates, trying to stop SG-1, it was only a matter of time before she created a lab somewhere, in case she needed it."

Cam shrugged, having listened the whole conversation in silence. It was only then that Rory realised that Teyla, Ronon, Daniel and Vala were all absent. "Seems simple enough," he said. "We find the lab, pick up Adria and be home for dinner."

"When are things ever that simple?" Sam asked him, amused.

Cam grinned at her. "There's always a first time," he said.

Suddenly, an emergency call went out over the radio. "Colonel Carter to the infirmary," came the voice of a slightly stressed Doctor Keller.

Imagining the worst, Rory took off after everyone else, heading straight for the emergency. Believing Morgan would be the one in trouble, she had not been prepared for the sight that confronted her. Daniel and Teyla both lay on beds, their eyes shut and medical staff hovering over them impatiently. Vala was sitting on a bed, having a light shone in her eyes and Ronon was watching everything with a stony gaze.

"What happened?" Sam asked as soon as she walked in.

Ronon shrugged. "We were walking down the corridor and Teyla and Daniel suddenly went flying," he said. "Next thing I know, I'm slamming into the wall hard enough to knock me out. When I came to, Daniel and Teyla were lying unconscious on the floor and that one was kneeling over me."

With a jerk of his chin, he motioned to Vala, who scowled in reply. "Well, that's the last time I try to save you!" she huffed.

"What was it?" Sam asked. "Some kind of explosion?"

"No," Vala replied. "We were attacked."

"You were attacked?" Cam echoed, sounded sceptical.

"Yes," Vala nodded. "Believe me, I know when I'm being attacked."

Sam cursed under her breath, her mind immediately picking up on what went wrong. Cam and Teal'c weren't far behind her. "Please tell me those things are all locked up somewhere, Sam?" Cam asked.

"The ones we have back on Earth are, but who know how many others are out there," Sam replied.

"What are you talking about?" Rodney scowled, clearly hating the fact that he couldn't keep up with the conversation.

"A Sodan cloaking device," Teal'c answered.

"Wait, you mean those things that make someone completely invisible?" Sheppard snapped. "Someone wearing one of those things is currently running around Atlantis?"

"Indeed," Teal'c replied.

"Then why the hell did they attack Jackson and Teyla?" Cam asked. "There are millions of other targets in here... the generators, the ZPM..."

Before anyone else could reply or anything could be done about the recent twist in events, the power suddenly shut off, plunging the room into darkness. Several people muttered curses, before Sam tapped her radio. "Chuck, what's going on?" she asked.

"Chuck?" she asked when she just got static in reply.

"Oh, that can't be good," Cam said.

Rory, who'd been standing just inside the doorway listening to everything, felt a tremor of dread go through her when the lights went out. She wasn't sure why she knew, but she had the impression that something _exceptionally_ bad was about to happen – as in the next level above screwed.

Struck by a hazy memory, she felt her eyes go wide. "Oh, no!" she breathed.

Pivoting sharply on her heel, she hiked up the skirts of her robes and sprinting away, completely ignoring the shouts behind her or the bewildered personnel she passed in the corridors. "Rory, wait!" Cam called out behind her, but she just kept going, her memory guiding her through the corridors.

She wasn't sure how long she ran, but her breath was heaving by the time she stumbled to a stop and the feeling of dread had only increased. Turning the corner, she cursed when she saw the doors to the uncatalogued lab standing open. "Hey, wait!" Cam said, grabbing her arm before she could enter the lab.

Rory was a little surprised to see he was also panting a little – she must have run further than she thought. "Where are you going?" he asked her.

"The lab," Rory said. "I have to look in the lab."

With a nod, Cam let go of her but she caught the silent warning in his eyes; she wasn't supposed to go tearing off on her own again. Rory turned away before rolling her eyes. Before she ascended she'd been a Marine, for crying out loud! She could handle just as much as he could.

Stepping into the room, the lab didn't light up, which could only mean bad things for the ZPM. Rory moved to the centre console, wincing when she saw someone had completely destroyed the crystals in the slide-out panel. Biting her lip, she bent down to peer inside, before she cursed loudly.

"What is it?" Cam asked.

Rocking back on her heels, Rory looked up at him, her mind still spinning from what she had just found – or rather, what she just _hadn't_ found. "She took it," Rory said simply.

"Who took what?" Cam asked.

"Adria," Rory replied. "She took the crystal."

"Adria?" Cam echoed. "Adria was _here_?"

Silently, Rory nodded. "She's the one that attacked Daniel. She probably would have tried to attack us too, but couldn't risk finding us before she was discovered. It would also explain why Vala was the only one not knocked unconscious."

"How did she get here?" Cam snapped.

Rory shrugged. "With a Sodan cloaking device?" she replied. "She could have slipped in with any of the teams coming back through the 'gate."

He sighed, looking like he'd just heard news he didn't want to have heard. "Yeah, that would be my guess too," he agreed. "We'd better do tell Sam."

"It's worse than that, Colonel," Rory said. "The crystal was – _is_ – very important."

"Important, how?" Cam asked, his blue eyes narrowing.

"Merlin's anti-Ori device is not the only one. He had a previous version that was mostly destroyed," Rory answered. "The Ancients believed it was no longer a threat, but Merlin managed to hide enough of the pieces away that if someone found them with the right kind of knowledge..."

Rory trailed off, not needing to complete the thought. "So, what?" Cam asked. "Adria is trying to build her own anti-Ori device?"

"She's trying to get revenge, would be my guess," Rory answered. "She always hated the Ancients and being attacked by one probably hasn't helped that. With her powers of ascension bound, she might have thought to hit back in the only way she can."

"By killing the Ancients with Merlin's device."

Rory nodded, even though it hadn't sounded like a question. "Yeah," she agreed. "And now she has her hands on the power crystal."

"Come on," Cam said. "Sam needs to know this."

Nodding, she moved to follow him, but a second later, she felt the floor buckle and twist beneath her feet. Pain slammed into her and she felt a roaring in her ears as her mind took a moment to catch up and work out what was going on. Fear ripped through her as she realised the corridor around her had just exploded, before she slammed painfully into something and the world went black.


End file.
